


Once Bitten, Twice Shy

by unityManipulator



Category: Hermitcraft, Minecraft (Video Game), hermitcraft recap
Genre: Gen, also like...idk why there are Real Zombies, i just wanted angst, this is mostly zloy Suffering, yeah pix dies but he gets better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 13:19:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18447380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unityManipulator/pseuds/unityManipulator
Summary: Zloy knows Pixl is dying, and he knows it's all his fault.Set in Zloy and Pixl's cobble clicker skyblock series.





	Once Bitten, Twice Shy

**Author's Note:**

> me: i love the recap boys  
> me: [murders pixlriffs] :)

Zloy knows Pixl is dying, and he knows it's all his fault.

Normally the zombies that came out at night simply scratched, grabbing at clothes and tearing at skin, but this one had _bitten,_ latching onto Pixl's forearm and tearing away a chunk of flesh before Zloy had managed to cut it down. The skin hadn't healed, no matter how much Pixl ate, and the edges of the bite were a sickening red after the blood had stopped pouring from the wound, the skin tight and hot.

“Ugh,” Pixl murmurs, and Zloy instinctively curls his arm around Pixl's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

“How do you feel?”

“Bad,” Pixl replies, blinking slowly before taking another small bite of the carrot he had been eating for the past few minutes. “It hurts.”

Zloy is _scared,_ too, scared for the way that Pixl wasn't healing and the fear of what could be wrong and how it was _his_ fault. “I'm sorry.”

“Hey, it's not your fault.” Pixl manages a weak smile and Zloy can feel tears prickling in his eyes. “Could've happened to either of us.”

Zloy knows it's true, but he can't help but blame himself. _I could've been faster,_ he thinks, _could've taken the bite or pushed him away or-_

Pixl shivers against him, breaking him out of his thoughts, and Zloy swears. “Shit, are you cold?” A nod, and he immediately pulls back. “It probably isn't helping that I'm here,” he starts, grabbing the blanket and wrapping it around Pixl's shoulders. “I'll go, you don't need me stealing your heat.”

He moves to stand before he feels fingers around his wrist and he turns back to Pixl. “Don't,” the brunet starts. “Don't go. I- I don't want to be alone right now.”

Zloy looks over to his tower, the cobble generators, the tree farm the two of them have. Their little island, all lit up with torches shining gently against the morning sunrise, and he can't help but want to _run,_ to be anywhere else. Every second he stays sitting in this bed with Pixl is a second that he's reminded that _he_ did this, _he_ ruined Pixl's life, it's all his fault and there's nothing he can do to fight it or fix it so the only thing left to do is _avoid_ it.

But Pixl's fingers are soft, and he murmurs a soft “please” and Zloy nods and sits back, pulling Pixl to his chest and holding him close.

“Sorry,” he mumbles.

Pixl shakes his head, curling into Zloy's touch. “I'm gonna… sleep. It might help.” Zloy looks down at him, Pixl biting back a yawn, and nods slowly.

“Okay, Pix. Get some rest.”

Pixl falls asleep quickly, his breathing deep and even, and Zloy has just enough time to shift and make sure Pixl won't wake up _too_ sore before he notices that he can't feel Pixl's chest moving.

He panics, pressing his fingers to Pixl's neck, and he manages to find a pulse but it's weak. He shakes the other man's shoulders, yells his name, even risks a slap, but- _nothing._

“Pixlriffs!”

Zloy pulls him close, burying his face in Pixl's shoulder, murmuring desperately. “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm _sorry.”_

 

He waits a day, Pixl tucked into the bed as Zloy works hollowly. He feeds the animals, shears the sheep, cuts trees and checks their cobble production, but his eyes are empty and he feels nothing as he does it.

He buries Pixl on one of their first islands the second morning, because he can't stand to look at what he's lost, and he flings the bed into the void below him and wipes his face with the sleeve of Pixl's jacket and bites his lip and goes back to farming cobblestone.

It's empty, slow action and results that get him _nothing,_ but the other option is to just give up and _something_ is pushing him to keep going, so he does.

  


It's been a week, empty and lonely, and Zloy warps back from the hub and sees _something_ on the island and his first thought is _where did I forget to light up._

The figure is wandering, its arms curled around itself, and Zloy steps forward with his sword in his hand and shouts “hey!” It turns, letting loose a groan and ambling towards him, and Zloy catches sight of its face and freezes, dropping his sword against the wood below him with a clang as it stumbles toward him. “Pixlriffs?”

Pixl is _filthy,_ mud clumped in his beard and hair and under his nails, his shirt wrinkled and his eyes bloodshot and the same green tint along his face to match Zloy's, but it's _him_ and he pauses when he catches sight of the other man. “Zloy?”

Zloy rushes forward, pulling Pixl into a hug and Pixl laughs, bringing his hands up to rest against Zloy's back. The zombie's cheek is against his own and after a few minutes he pulls back in disbelief. “You aren't cold!”

Zloy shakes his head sadly, bringing a hand to Pixl's neck. “You're just cold too,” he murmurs, pressing against the barely-there pulse and sighing. He pulls off the blue jacket, passing it back to Pixl before pulling him into another hug.

Pixl laughs softly, letting his forehead rest on Zloy's shoulder, content to just _be_ there. “So,” he starts, mumbling into his fellow zombie's skin. “What did I miss?”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr @[fluxbuddy](http://fluxbuddy.tumblr.com) come say hi


End file.
